ELECTRONICS
Hon Hai posts revenue gain
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler, yesterday reported consolidated revenue of NT$589.73 billion (US$19.14 billion) for last month, up 21.48 percent annually. From January to last month, cumulative revenue totaled NT$4.08 trillion, an increase of 17.7 percent from NT$3.46 trillion in the same period last year, Hon Hai said in a statement. Wistron Corp (緯創), another iPhone assembler, reported that revenue last month increased 2.06 percent annually to NT$91.64 billion and cumulative revenue in the first 10 months of the year expanded 9.31 percent to NT$725.81 billion annually.
MANUFACTURING
Gaming boosts Sun Max
Industrial cooling fan maker Sun Max Tech Ltd (動力) yesterday reported that sales last month grew 10.39 percent year-on-year to NT$131.68 million, driven by gaming-related demand after its clients launched graphics cards using Nvidia Corp’s Turing graphics processing chips. Cumulative sales in the first 10 months of the year increased 9.61 percent from the same period last year to NT$1.08 billion, the company said. Sun Max’s cooling fan business focuses on the gaming segment, with graphics card cooling kits and other gaming-related products for PCs accounting for more than 80 percent of overall sales.
FOOD AND BEVERAGE
Yummy Town profit falls
Yummy Town Holdings Corp (雅茗天地集團), which operates restaurant and tea brands globally, yesterday reported that net income attributable to its parent company was NT$37.19 million last quarter, down from NT$48.01 million in the same quarter last year. Earnings per share fell from NT$1.56 to NT$1.11 over the period, the company said in a statement. Consolidated sales grew 6.27 percent to NT$582.91 million, but higher operating expenses caused gross margin to drop by 1.06 percentage points to 52.82 percent and operating margin to fall by 3.22 percentage points to 8.01 percent. Cumulative sales in the first 10 months grew 10 percent to NT$1.8 billion.
SOFTWARE
Gamania sales grow 73%
Online game publisher Gamania Digital Entertainment Co (遊戲橘子) yesterday reported consolidated sales of NT$870 million for last month, up 73 percent year-on-year, on the persistent contribution from its popular game Lineage M. In the first 10 months of the year, cumulative sales increased 96 percent annually to NT$12.29 billion, the company said. Third-quarter net profit was NT$530 million, with earnings per share of NT$3.11, a quarterly high, and total net profit for the first three quarters hit NT$1.46 billion, up 40.51 percent annually, with earnings per share of NT$8.59.
TEXTILES
Eclat profit helped by scale
Textile and garment manufacturer Eclat Textile Co (儒鴻) on Thursday posted earnings per share of NT$11.43 for the first three quarters this year, up from NT$11.2 for all of last year. The company attributed its earnings growth to the optimization of its product mix and increased economies of scale. Net profit was NT$1.04 billion last quarter, up 12.39 percent annually, with total net profit in the first three quarters rising 58.18 percent annually to NT$3.14 billion. Eclat expects business to pick up further and peak this quarter due to Christmas sales and increased shipments to sportswear brands. In the first 10 months of the year, consolidated sales grew 16.77 percent annually to NT$22.72 billion, it said.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure